The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a lower back condition and TDIU due to service-connected disabilities. The Board found that there was no direct evidence linking the Veteran’s current lower back conditions to his military service, and concluded that he did not meet the criteria for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner's opinion supported by medical literature indicated that the Veteran's lower back disabilities were more likely due to non-service connected work-related injuries and surgeries. The Board also noted that the Veteran’s right knee disability alone did not prevent him from securing or following a substantially gainful occupation.
- Claimed conditions
- lower back condition
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 30%
- Decision date
- August 10, 2018
- Citation
- 18125553
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 18125553.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for both a lower back condition and a cervical spine condition, finding that the evidence did not support a nexus between these conditions and service.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for a lower back condition, including thoracolumbar spine degenerative arthritis and degenerative disc disease other than IVDS. The decision finds that the Veteran's current disability is causally related to his military service due to an accident during training in 1963.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions, including bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, depression, migraine headaches, hypertension, abnormal heartbeat, bilateral eye condition (sensitivity to light), erectile dysfunction, skin disorder, upper spine condition, lower back condition, skeletal arthritis of entire joint system, left hip condition, right hip condition, left knee condition, right knee condition, left foot condition, and right foot condition have all been denied.,The Board found that the Veteran did not meet the criteria for service connection for any of these conditions due to a lack of current disability or no evidence linking the claimed conditions to his active duty service.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for a lower back condition as secondary to his service-connected right knee disability, finding that the evidence is at least in equipoise regarding whether the Veteran's low back condition is proximately due to or the result of his right knee disability.
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